


Honed Maintenance

by Teaj



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Four (Linked Universe)-centric, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Weapon care, short fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:07:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28500489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teaj/pseuds/Teaj
Summary: Four tries to figure out why Wild can't keep a weapon in one piece for more than a couple days. Maybe it's because his weapons are all super old... or maybe it's because he doesn't know how to take care of them at all.
Relationships: Four & Wild (Linked Universe)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 165





	Honed Maintenance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shadow sylph](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Shadow+sylph).



> ShadowSylph requested this the other day on the discord and I loved the idea. Hope you enjoy!

Wild broke weapons. A lot. None of the other heroes had ever broken a weapon, to Four’s knowledge. And honestly, it was _hard_ to break a legitimately good weapon. Wild’s _talent_ for destruction hurt Four to their core. Especially because Wild didn’t seem to care when his weapons broke! Four had seen him, more than once, _throw his sword_ only to have it shatter against an enemy. Swords shouldn’t shatter like glass! The blacksmith was determined to get to the bottom of this.

They decided to start their investigation into this by simply seeing how Wild got his weapons. Wild had said he just took them off monsters, but surely that couldn’t be true for _all_ his weapons. There had to be at least one blacksmith in his Hyrule that sold weapons. One night, as Wild was cooking, Four sat down beside him. “Where’d you get your current sword?”

“Uh…” Wild paused, caught off guard by the sudden question, “I think a Moblin had it? It’s just a traveller’s sword, nothing special but it works.”

“What about that giant blade you were using the other day?” It had looked sturdy, but Wild had chucked it at a Bokoblin, losing the sword while thankfully taking down the enemy.

“Lynel sword, name says it all.”

“Those boomerangs you don’t even bother to catch half the time?”

“Usually, Lizalfos. Before you ask, most of my clubs are from Moblins and Bokoblins.”

“Those magic swords I’ve seen you use?”

“Those tend to be in chests or lying around ruins.”

“Have you _ever_ met a blacksmith before me?”

“Yes!” Wild said proudly, “In Zora’s domain. Dento makes all the jewelry the Zora wear. He told me that if I ever break Mipha’s trident he would remake it for me. The other leaders told me the same thing, for different people, but I don’t use their weapons very much. Replacements wouldn’t be the same.”

“Have you ever _bought_ a weapon from someone? A good one?”

Wild shrugged, “No one really makes weapons regularly anymore. There’s a ton all over the place from before the Calamity.”

Four blinked and went silent. So… nearly all the weapons Wild used were 100 years old or made of crude materials like the clubs. That was almost certainly a factor in how quickly he broke them. “Next time we’re in a town I’m buying you a real sword.” They declared.

Wild looked at them, surprised, “What, no, I… I’ve got lots, save your rupees! It’ll still end up braking anyway!”

But Four could not be convinced. They might not have access to their forge to make Wild a sword themself, but they knew fine craftsmanship when they saw it. This man was getting a high-quality blade that wasn’t over 100 years old.

\---

Eventually, the group found a town. While everyone was split up to gather information and supplies, Four had a singular mission, which was thankfully also an easy mission. It didn’t take them long to find a weapon seller. The weapons for sale were of decent quality, certainly better than what Wild tended to use. But just to be sure, Four purchased two of the finest swords available. Initially the vender refused the sale, thinking Four was a child, but money speaks more than height so Four walked off with the swords without any real difficulty.

Four returned to the designated meeting spot and looked around the area. People were milling about and chatting. _We didn’t get any info,_ Vio so graciously supplied. _We can listen to the passersby,_ Red countered. Four closed their eyes and calmed their thoughts, listening closely to all the sounds around them. People talked about a lot of things, what to eat, what to wear, what to do and where to go. Four ignored those conversations.

“I’m worried,” They heard a man’s voice say, and focused on the sound, “If the soldiers couldn’t take care of those monsters what will we do?” The voice got quieter as it spoke, moving further away. Four tried to listen, but the conversation was gone. Bust.

Footsteps, coming towards them, “You’re back here early.” Four opened their eyes and shrugged at Warriors. The pair chatted about nothing in particular as the rest of the heroes slowly joined them.

Wild was third to last, and when he arrived Four smiled at him. “Got you something,” Four said, holding out the swords.

Wild blinked in surprise, “I told you…” He sighed and took the swords, “Thanks. You shouldn’t have.” One of the swords was absorbed by the slate while Wild strapped the other to his back.

“If you don’t bang it against rocks, one of those swords should last you years with proper care.”

Wild raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything as the last of the boys arrived at that moment.

It seemed strong monsters had been roaming the paths between this town and the next for a few days now. Soldiers had been dispatched to try and deal with the monsters, but no progress had been made.

\---

The boys had not gotten any information on what the monsters were, so the endless possibilities were flowing through Four’s brain as they walked. They had all fought so many powerful enemies, it was a bit dizzying to imagine. As the group rounded a bend in the path they saw them. A dozen large, yellow blobs with black streaks undulated their way around the path.

“You’re kidding,” Legend said, “Chuchus? The soldiers couldn’t take out _Chuchus_?”

“Don’t underestimate them,” Time chastised.

“They look like the ones from my time, though normally they don’t have those black streaks,” Sky supplied, “They can generate electricity, and they’ll try to eat you. When you slice it, it’ll just split in two, until they aren’t big enough to hold themselves together, anyway. Arrows and stabbing won’t work on them, either. We could use bombs but that would damage the road, so that’s probably not the best idea.”

With Sky’s knowledge in mind, the group spread out to surround the Chuchus. They had decided that each pair of them would focus on one Chuchu at a time, to avoid too many being split and causing more trouble. Sky was staying back so he could rush in and assist if it became needed.

Four moved in with Time at their side. Once the Chuchus noticed the incoming assault they lit up with electricity. The one nearest Time jumped at him, mouth wide, but Time sidestepped and avoided the attack. As it hit the ground the electricity dissipated and Four moved in, slicing clean through, and causing it to split. Time followed up with a massive swing, slicing the two into four. One of those small ones started to run towards the other slimes as Four delivered two swift slices that broke two of the chuchus apart, while Time dealt a final blow to the third, Four looked to see the fourth heading towards the others.

“Behind you!” Time warned, and Four rolled to their left just as a Chuchu landed where they had been. Four heard one of the others cry out, presumably from a shock, but they would have to leave that to Sky. Time had already sliced this Chuchu in half, and one of the halves was heading Four’s way. Four stood and sliced the Chuchu in one movement and sliced again before the new halves even hit the ground.

“Wild!” Wind yelled, making both Four and Time look over. A Chuchu had gotten a hold of Wild was now sparking with electricity. Inside the monster Wild twitched and struggled. Four and Time began running, Sky pulled his clawshot out from across the field. Once the electricity stopped, Sky used the clawshot to pull Wild out, and all the other heroes charged and demolished the Chuchu in an instant. Looking around, Four could see the rest of the Chuchus had been handled.

Hyrule looked a little frazzled, he must have been shocked, Legend was checking him while everyone else was rushing over to where Sky was holding Wild. Four grabbed the blade Wild had dropped while they went to join the others. Wild was coughing and had a few burns but was conscious.

Once Wild was able to stand without coughing the group found a nearby clearing to rest in. Legend was tending to Hyrule, while Twilight was helping Wild clean up and checking the seriousness of the burns. Once Twilight was satisfied Wild would be alright, he left him to talk to Time. Four approached Wild and handed him his sword back.

“Oh, thanks!” Wild said, smiling as he put the sword back in its scabbard.

Four’s eyebrows shot up at that, “Aren’t you going to clean it?”

Wild raised an eyebrow, “Um… no? What do you mean?”

“Are you serious right now?” A few of the others were looking over, Wars was even in the middle of cleaning his blade.

Wild’s face started to turn red, “I… uh… well… yes? It’ll be fine anyway…”

“You’re actually serious,” Four said in disbelief, “I can’t believe I never noticed, I should have noticed. Well, I guess we know why all your weapons break. Maintenance is important.” Wild looked nervous as Four sat beside him. “Take out your sword, I’m going to show you how to take care of it.”

The entire clearing had gone silent as Wild pulled out his blade, still yellow with Chuchu goo. “I never…” Wild’s face was red as he floundered for words. Twilight said something to Time and everyone got the message, looking away from the exchange. Wild held the dirty sword with one hand and covered his face with the other as he muttered under his breath, “ _He_ probably knew that.”

Four smiled softly at Wild, “No one knows how to take care of a weapon without someone telling them. You’re a fine warrior, so we all assumed you knew too. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

Wild uncovered his face and smiled at Four. “So, uh… cleaning… my blades never lasted long enough for me to think about it. Well except-” he cut himself off with a glance towards Sky.

“Well, we’re going to change that.” Four dug out a couple of white cotton cloths and a small bottle of rubbing alcohol, handing one of the cloths to Wild they drew their own sword. They dampened the cloth with the alcohol and demonstrated while they spoke. “Use the cloth to wipe the blade down. Go slowly and take your time, there’s no rush and you don’t want to cut yourself. I’ve seen careless people lose a finger because they got distracted while cleaning their blades.”

Once they had shown how to go the length of the blade properly a few times, Four nodded at Wild. Wild was hesitant at first, he had a loose grip on the cloth and barely touched the blade. After a few passes, Four gave him some pointers and Wild did as they said. It took a while for the blade to get clean but eventually, Wild had removed all the gunk. Four showed him the best way to clean the hilt and the guard next, as they were also covered in slime.

“Normally, you’re fine just to clean the blade,” Four said, “but if the hilt gets dirty it’s just as important to clean it off.”

“Thanks, Four,” Wild said, “So… why is this so important, anyway?”

“It helps keep the blade from rusting. Oiling the blade helps as well, but first, you have to check for burrs.”

“Uh… for what?”

Four held up the four sword and directed Wild’s attention to the edge, “See how the edge is nice and smooth? Look at your blade.” Wild dutifully held up his blade. Even after just the one fight, the edge had a couple of nicks and tiny dents in it, mostly near the tip. Four pointed to one, “See how the metal is bent? If you leave it like that, it’ll catch when you use it and get worse. Eventually, it’ll weaken the blade to the point it can snap.”

“Oh, ok,” Wild nodded, “So how do we fix it?”

Four dug around in his pouch again and pulled out a small stone, it looked almost smooth, but when Four handed it to Wild he saw that it was slightly rough. Four pulled out a second one, “These are called whetstones. You use them to hone your blade, which basically means removing the burrs. Let me see your sword and I’ll show you.” Wild obliged and Four took the whetstone and ran it along the length of the blade, each pass going from the guard all the way to the tip. “You need to be careful not to slip here, too. You want to apply enough pressure to remove the burrs, but not so much that your hand will slip.” Four handed the sword back to Wild. “You try”

Wild took the blade carefully, raised the whetstone, and stopped. Four looked up at Wild’s face and saw it was blank. He was having a memory. Four slowly removed the sword from Wild’s grip and held onto it.

It wasn’t very long that Four had to wait, only about half an hour. Wild sighed and shook his head when he came out of it. “You good?” Four asked.

Wild nodded, “yeah… my father was a knight, you know? He showed me how to do this when he gave me my first sword.” He smiled sadly, “I’m good to continue.” Wild took the sword and ran the whetstone over it like Four had shown him. Again, Four let Wild do it a few times, then gave a few tips. Once there were satisfied, Four had him check again for burrs. The blade was free of them now, so the pair moved on.

“You mentioned oil?” Wild said, “That’s next, right?”

Four nodded and pulled out a couple of black cloths and a bottle of oil out of his pack. “Yeah, we oil the blade to prevent rust and protect it from the elements. It’s basically the same process as cleaning. Generally, you wait a bit after cleaning to do this as you need the blade to be dry, but it’s dry now so we’re good.” Four showed Wild how to do it using the Four sword again. After the demonstration, Wild followed suit. This time, he barely needed any pointers.

“Anything else?” Wild asked.

“Now you just wait for the oil to dry before you put it away. If we ever have access to a grind wheel, I’ll show you how to sharpen it.” Four answered. “You can keep the stuff you used, I’ve got lots.”

“Thanks, Four,” Wild said, “This was great.”

“No problem. Just, you know, don’t go bashing your sword against any rocks now.” Four joked. Wild chuckled, but Four didn’t like the mischievous look in his eye.

**Author's Note:**

> Of course, the weapon's still gonna break, but maybe it'll last longer.


End file.
